A common roof construction used for commercial buildings includes a substrate covered by one or more layers of insulating or covering panels. In such systems, the substrate may commonly be fluted steel roof deck panels, a concrete slab or other materials.
In the past, panels have usually be held to the substrate using fasteners on hot asphalt. The use of fasteners adds significant expense to the roof construction, both in material and labor costs. Fasteners also present potential areas for failures because they may been subject to corrosion or damage.
The proper installation of an adhesive bonded roof panel system requires proper adhesive coverage over the substrate. Too little adhesive in certain areas may result in an inadequate bond. Too much adhesive is wasteful and costly. When the substrate material is fluted, adhesive need only be applied to the raised flanges of the substrate as any adhesive that falls into the flutes between the flanges generally will not contribute to holding the overlying panels.
The only adequate prior art method known to applicants for applying roof panel adhesive to a substrate is to pour the adhesive onto the substrate from a bucket or container. This method does not provide consistent application of the adhesive. In some cases, too much adhesive is applied and the excess is wasted. While in others, too little material is applied to the substrate. The problem of using this prior art method is particularly severe when the substrate is fluted. It is not uncommon for workers to miss the flanges when pouring the adhesive, which results in adhesive falling into the flutes, where it is wasted. This prior art method is also very time consuming and physically exhausting. It can also be very messy as pouring the adhesive may cause it to splash onto workers and equipment.
Thus there exists a need for an apparatus and method for accurately applying adhesive material to a substrate for holding roof panels thereto.